Page 3193 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 23 August 2017
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I reiterate my calls to this government to cease their plans to enshrine any aspect of the MOU in legislation. This is a step too far and a move that will never be supported by the Canberra Liberals. Any attempt to legislate unions’ right of veto, unions’ ability to run the procurement process in this town, will not be supported by those in the opposition.
As I have said in this place numerous times previously, you need to follow the money. Unions in the ACT, specifically the CFMEU and the CFMEU-owned Tradies clubs, are the major financial contributors to members of this government. Those opposite embrace their individual connections to the union movement. After all, most of them would not be in this place were it not for the backing—financial, political or in-kind support—offered to them by the union movement.
We know that in the world of the ALP preselection process, the support of the unions is crucial to success. Union members are the powerbrokers behind the Labor Party. We only need to have a look at recent history and remember the fate of Mr Corbell, a long-serving minister in the Labor government, and what happened to him when he no longer had the support of the union, particularly the CFMEU.
A number of those opposite openly acknowledge and applaud the likes of the CFMEU and the TWU for their support in their campaigns, and owe their election to this place in part to those organisations. Not once do any of them denounce the bullying tactics, the thuggery that has been perpetrated by some union officials, both locally and nationally. One of the most abhorrent examples recently was the public comments of John Setka from the Victorian CFMEU, arguing to out the names, addresses and details of public employees of the Fair Work Commission to intimidate people from doing the jobs that they are employed to do.
I myself have been a subject of these kinds of bullying and harassment tactics that have become a hallmark employed by unions both nationally and, particularly, here in the ACT. I remind members of the robocall that was placed into my electorate to spread complete misinformation to some 20,000 phone numbers in the electorate of Brindabella. That sought to completely miscommunicate comments and my views. But never let the truth get in the way of a good story, Madam Speaker. The unions will tell their story, run their campaigns and continue to seek to influence, perturb and intimidate elected officials in this town simply for asking questions through the scrutiny function which we are elected to do.
It is also worth noting that the bullying tactics of the CFMEU continue to follow Mr Hanson to this day. The Canberra Liberals have shined a light on the dodgy land deal done between the ACT government, led by Mr Barr, and the CFMEU-aligned Tradies club. This deal is exactly the kind of deal that simply does not wash with the general public. Again, the pub test is failed here.
It goes like this, Madam Speaker. In December 2014, the government pays $3.9 million to purchase the CFMEU headquarters. The CFMEU then continue to be housed in this building, paying absolute peppercorn rent. To top things off, another
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